What have you done to your Branson today?

[Branson Bob]

That's a nice score Bob! I'm sure it needs a little bit of TLC but sure looks in a very decent shape.

I wish they would do auctions like that over here. I've seen such great deals on those auctions.

It's like my buddy used to say about buying gas and cigarettes at the reservation, "at this price I can't afford not to buy them." I could definitely nickel and dime myself into bankruptcy. Auctions are definitely a slippery slope!

Great Job Bob! I bet you will have it serviced up and ready to roll in no time!

It looks like everything's in pretty good shape. Now I have to get all the backhoe work done so I can pull that off for awhile. Wish I had another tractor...

Wow Bob,

That's really cool. What a score. Hope you stopped on the way home and bought a lottery ticket because your luck was running good. I think I would just check the gear oil, make sure the hub and spindle are good, see if it still has semi-straight blades and go cut some brush. If the seal leaks on the gear box, just put in corn head grease and go mowing. Hopefully the pto shaft fits.

That probably would have gone over $1K here. Which is why I don't go to auctions.

No kidding Slim.

The new version of this is about $1260. 5' Economy Cutter Without Chain Guards | Howse Implement

This used one is listed at $995: Pardon Our Interruption

Thanks for the maintenance checklist.

Great score Bob! How did you load the cutter into your truck? Looks like a 6' model.

I'd have wanted the flail mower and the Ford too.

Eric, the cutter is 60" wide. I think I have a photo of the rigging job. If I still have it I'll post it. And yes, it was hard not to buy the flail mower too. It's a dilemma seeing below market prices on so many things. It really tests the willpower.

 

[Branson Bob]

Great score Bob! How did you load the cutter into your truck?

We used the ***-along to pull it up the skid with a little help from a 5' pry bar.



It was pretty sketchy, like the Lilliputians tying down Gulliver.

 

[CoachKen]

Well...I just bought it. 2515H with FEL, box blade, rotary cuter, root grapple (and third function), palette forks, and landscape rake. I pick it up next week!

 

[K5lwq]

Congratulations! Be sure to post pictures when you get home!

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Congrats! That is a nice tractor!

 

[Branson Bob]

I was a fence post driving fool this weekend. I started them with the single jack and finished them with a Titan post driver. 25 yesterday and 15 today on rocky, hilly terrain.

 

[ning]

Is that a powered t-post driver?
Can you give a review - how loud is it, how much effort, what kind of ground are you driving into, what happens when you hit a rock, etc? I've got about 1200' of fence to run "soon" which will be mostly t-post plus the occasional peeler so very interested.

I was a fence post driving fool this weekend. I started them with the single jack and finished them with a Titan post driver. 25 yesterday and 15 today on rocky, hilly terrain.

 

[Branson Bob]

Is that a powered t-post driver?
Can you give a review - how loud is it, how much effort, what kind of ground are you driving into, what happens when you hit a rock, etc? I've got about 1200' of fence to run "soon" which will be mostly t-post plus the occasional peeler so very interested.

Ning,

I'm driving 160 T-posts. They're 10 foot long for deer fencing and they're going 2.5' into the ground. Some of the property has clay soil and there are no shortage of rocks big and small. Lower down where I was working this weekend there are more rocks and boulders.

For the first 73 posts (a few months ago) I used a Rhino Fence Pro borrowed from a friend. My buddy said he paid over $2000 for it. I really didn't want to spend that much. I took a chance on the Titan PGD3875 which came to $760 including tax and shipping. I figured I could always return it if I thought it was junk.

It weighs 50 pounds and I wouldn't want to use if I was working off a ladder but being on the FEL made it less of an issue. The Titan comes with a 4" barrel so I think the extra weight is because it's designed for larger fence posts. By comparison the Rhino Fence Pro weighs 38 pounds and has a 2.5" barrel.

The Rhino was noticeably better made and more well-balanced too. The Titan seemed top-heavy. Construction and fit and finish-wise the Titan seems cheap by comparison but in fairness it got the job done. The Titan "only" beats 1350 times per minute whereas the Rhino beats 1700 times per minute but because I'm in the break-in period I was using it at a low rpm and it was fine. Part of the price difference is that the Rhino comes with a Honda engine whereas the Titan comes with some generic clone which started on the very first pull and ran just fine. All weekend long it started on one pull and ran smoothly, quietly, and cleanly with very minimal exhaust fumes.

It seems to me the Titan goes through rocks better I think because it's heavier. Out of 40 posts this weekend I powered through three rocks and only twice had to move the location of my hole. While I didn't like settling for the cheaper alternative, I'm happy with the Titan so far, and happy to have saved about $1400 too.

 

[Cougsfan]

Last spring I bought the cheapest 32 cubic inch 2 stroke fence post pounder I could find on ebay. I paid about $200 for it. It is so cheap it doesn't even have a brand name. I figured I would only be using it once and wasn't anxious to spend a bunch of money on something I'd probably only use once and it would set in the barn for eternity. I put in about 1/2 mile of T posts with it (180 posts). It is indeed cheaply built, but worked flawlessly. In all fairness I didn't hit much rock. It was light, easy to use, always started first pull and nothing broke on it. It will set and run at an idle for the longest time and not load up when ready to use it.

The choke is labeled backwards which took me a while to figure out what was wrong. The instruction manual was one of those originally written in Chinese and translated by someone who didn't have a clue on how to speak English. It was comical to read and totally useless.

Contrary to what I originally thought on how much I would use it, I have used it several times since then. It still always starts on the first pull. I made a drift out of a steel bar to go on to the end of it and use it for compacting dirt around wooden fence posts. Works great! Beats doing it by hand. Probably won't last forever, but it did its job and everything it does from here on out is just a bonus. Sometimes I end up cursing myself when I go the cheap route. This was not one of those times.

 

[CoachKen]

Just brought it home tonight.